


How to get your very own sex scandal

by BakaDoll



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Hartwin, M/M, gambler!eggsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-05-07 11:52:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5455553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakaDoll/pseuds/BakaDoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry gets sent on a mission to make sure the sex scandal of an important government member doesn't get public. The centre of this sex scandal is one Eggsy Unwin, a young man who earns his money with (illegal) Poker games and cheating at them.<br/>Of course the mission doesn't go exactly as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so this is my first fic after ages (usually I do fanart) sooo *sweats*  
> It's based off a headcanon dat-inu and me talked about so ofc the fic is a giftie for her :)
> 
> I'd like to thank the lovely gooberfiend for beta-ing it for me <33

Harry straightened the pages of the mission file he was reading, using the last moments of his ride to study his fake identity again: Mr. Harrison Eldridge, a 50 year old self-made millionaire with a weakness for gambling. He also skimmed through the details about his target one last time: Mr. Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, only 25 years old but already famous in the underworld for his illegal Poker games and his "luck" in them.  
Usually Kingsman didn't bother with illegal gambling. It was against the law, sure, but it wasn't half as dangerous to the public’s well-being as a maniac with an armoury. This gambler was different though. He still wasn't dangerous, not at all. There hadn't been one record of Eggsy Unwin getting violent towards his victims. He did, however, win a game of Poker against a very famous and highly recognized member of the British government, parting him from £20,000 cash. And then he proceeded to have sex with him. And now this specific member of the British government wanted to make sure it would never reach the public; neither his story about losing £20,000 in an illegal game of Poker, nor the one about him having sex with the young gambler afterwards.  
With an exasperated sigh Harry closed the file and massaged the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Why again did he, a senior agent with a history of hundreds of life-threatening and adrenaline packed missions, have to deal with a bloody sex scandal? Why couldn't they have chosen the new Lancelot instead?  
" _Galahad, are you there? Your ride will arrive in 5 minutes. Make sure not to fuck this one up, mate._ " Merlin's voice reached his ears through the glasses' communication system and Harry rolled his eyes. Oh, yes. That's why. His latest mission hadn't gone _well_. To be fair, "hadn't gone well" was a huge understatement. He had successfully downloaded the needed information from the target's computer on a Kingsman USB stick and then went ahead and deleted them so they couldn't cause any more damage. 

Two unnecessary explosions and one near-death experience later, Arthur had been more than pissed off with him and sent him on this unbelievably boring and most certainly not adrenaline-filled mission. So, if he really thought about it, it was his own fault he was currently in this car. But Harry Hart didn't like to think too hard about these kind of things, so instead he told himself it was because he won nearly every Kingsman Poker night for the last six years.  
When Harry left the car, he buttoned his suit jacket and let his eyes roam over the big hotel in front of him. He had to give some credit to this "Eggsy" - what kind of nickname was that anyway - the boy knew where to go to make proper money. He only went to Galas, like the one taking place here, or big events which were mostly attended by old, rich men and their 40 years younger trophy wives.  
"Good evening, sir, may I get your name, please?" The young man at the door asked politely and Harry rewarded him with a charming smile. "The name's Harrison Eldridge. I was invited by Sir Milford for my donation to his charity.", the donation, of course, had been made by Kingsman, but under Harry's code name. He didn't know how much exactly, but knowing Merlin it probably was a quite memorable sum. He didn't mind though, for once the money spent by Kingsman for covers and fake identities was placed really well; said charity was one for children from poor neighbourhoods, giving them a chance to make more of their lives than they would be able to do on their own. Maybe Kingsman's donation would actually help a few kids to get away from the streets and make something of their lives.

Also, the thought that this could actually happen would piss Arthur off immensely, fucking snob, so Harry enjoyed it even more.

The man went through a few pages full of names, until he pressed his finger to one and nodded, then looked back at Harry with a polite smile. "Of course. Mr. Eldridge, please come in, enjoy your stay." Harry was let inside by another young man standing right next to the door and opening it for him and he entered a big hall, already filled with people. Most of them were busy with polite chatter, drinking champagne or eating from the buffet at the far right of the room, others were engrossed in the presented options of entertainment.  
Harry took a flute of champagne from a tray that was offered to him by a young lady in a black skirt, a white blouse and a tie. "Thank you very much", he said, before he took a few steps forward and mumbled into his drink, "Merlin, where's the target?" There were a few moments of silence on the other side of the comm and Harry started to wander around the room, taking in all the impressions. There was some sort of jazz-y music playing in the background and a few people were dancing to it, a few feet to his left was a group of elderly men smoking cigars and another group of people had gathered in a big circle discussing current political topics. " _15 feet to your right and you should see him straight ahead_ ", Merlin's voice told him and Harry made a right turn, slowly strolling in the direction he'd been told.  
"Mr. Eldridge!" Harry nearly spilled his drink, spun around on his heels, and had to fight the urge to draw the gun from under his suit jacket as the way too cheery voice from behind him made him jump. "Sir Milford", he breathed and silently cursed Merlin when he heard his friend's amused chuckle in his ears. Bloody bastard had known exactly the host of the event was right behind him. "What a pleasure to finally meet the man behind this wonderful charity", Harry didn't take long to regain his posture and smiled at the man in front of him. He was around his age, maybe a bit older, with his hair already greying at the roots and a few too many wrinkles around the eyes and mouth for his age, probably from too much tanning. "The pleasure is on my side", Sir Milford answered, "your generous donation alone already helped 5 teenagers to get into proper tutoring programs and after-school activities, to give them all the academic as well as social training they need." This time, Harry's smile was genuine. "I'm happy to hear that", he said, "these children are our future, so we should give them all we have to help them make something out of their lives." Sir Milford seemed sincerely delighted by Harry's words, if his enthusiastic nodding and his bright smile were any indication. "Right. Very right, Mr. Eldridge", he agreed. Harry wondered why that man was so euphoric about helping those kids and teenagers. True and honest philanthropy was rarely found in millionaires, but he was starting to think this man was really just a generous, caring person who wanted to change something and it made talking to him a lot more pleasant. Most of the people who donated to his charity probably only did so for the positive PR it gave them. "Right", Milford said with a bright smile on his face. "It was a pleasure to talk to you Mr. Eldridge, but I'm afraid I have to greet a lot more guests, so if you would forgive me if I leave you so early..."

"No, of course, go ahead. Maybe we will have the opportunity to talk again later", Harry said politely and Sir Milford nodded. A few moments later they parted ways and Harry went back to his task of finding Gary Unwin.  
And Merlin's instructions had been as precise as always, after walking exactly 15 feet he could see the Poker table all set up, a game obviously ending right now, as only a middle-aged man and a young blonde one, his target Eggsy Unwin, were sitting at the table, turning their cards so their faces showed. "Oh, bugger!" the middle-aged man cursed and one look at the cards was enough for Harry to see he had just lost this last round. An astonishing sum of money wandered over the table in the hands of the young man and Harry followed the money with his eyes as he stepped closer and came to a halt right behind an empty chair. His eyes wandered from the hands holding and neatly sorting the money into a stack, over a pair of quite muscular forearms, only showing because the sleeves of the dress shirt Eggsy was wearing were rolled up, further up to his shoulders, his neck and then the boy looked up and- Jesus Christ. Harry was fucked. That boy was _gorgeous_. Sure, he had seen photographs of him in the mission file and he had looked quite handsome in those but nothing could have prepared him for this. His bright green eyes looked straight into Harry's brown ones, his hair was slightly messy but still looked like there was intent behind it and his jaw was so sharp, Harry thought he could cut himself if he tried to touch it. And God, did he want to cut himself right now. And now, to make it all worse, Eggsy licked his bottom lip and grinned at Harry, his eyes shamelessly wandering up and down his body, until they met his eyes again and he said: "Hey, bruv. You wanna sit down 'n play in the next game?"  
As if all ability to speak had left him at the sight of the boy in front of him, his answer was more of a grunt than a yes and _fuck_ that had sounded way too animalistic. It only made the boy grin more and in his ear Merlin spit a sharp " _Harry_ ", in a clear warning not to do anything stupid. But he didn't plan to. Really, Merlin should have more faith in him. Yes, the target was gorgeous and he would love nothing more than to bend him over this table and fuck him until he came dry, but he was a senior Kingsman agent and he certainly had a lot of self-control, so there really wasn't anything to fear. Of course he wouldn't do that. Unless this would turn into a honey pot mission and Kingsman would benefit from Harry fucking Eggsy until he came dry, then he would happily do so without a second thought.  
"Hi", the boy gave him a charming smile as soon as Harry sat down, "I'm Eggsy. What's yer name?"  
"My name is Harrison Eldridge", Harry introduced himself and straightened his suit jacket, before he leaned back in the chair. There we go, he had his composure back. It had just been a minor fuck up, nothing to be worried about. "Aight, _Harry_. You eva played Poker before?" Eggsy asked and Harry stiffened for a second. "Harrison. And yes, I have", his correction only made Eggsy chuckle and he shrugged as he collected the chips and gave them out to everyone who decided to take part in the next game, helping the other young man who acted as the Dealer and was currently shuffling the deck of cards. "I know. I’d rather call you Harry tho, doesn't sound so...stuck-up."

When all chips were spread among the participants, a gentle smiled appeared on the Dealer's face and he lay down the deck of cards. "Okay, Gentlemen. My name's Jamal 'n I'll be yer Dealer tonight. Is everyone familiar wif the rules of Poker?" The rough London accent hit Harry in the face, it was the same as Eggsy had and he wondered how no one seemed to be suspicious about that. It was just a guess, but if they were working together, that was a very clever move. The Dealer had the best chances of cheating in a game of Poker. All men seated at the table gave a nod to the question Jamal had just asked, and a quiet mumbling went through the group which seemed to satisfy the young man as he started to give out the cards. Harry watched his fingers, but he couldn't make out anything suspicious because the boy's hands had covered the deck too much, so he just took a look at his own cards and then looked back up. By then, the three cards in the middle were laid out too and the remaining deck was right next to the first one.  
This round, and many afterward, went by without anything extraordinary happening. It became clear pretty fast who actually knew what he was doing and who just wanted to show off to the young Ladies around; the latter ones were out of the game after a few rounds, betting way too high and being too obvious while bluffing. Harry was a bit offended by those men, Poker was a game for the mind, one needed to calculate the odds, keep a straight face and try to figure out how to win, even with a bad hand. It was not to show off and try to bet the highest. 

He nearly thought Eggsy wouldn't try anything tonight, but then he noticed something after another round. Actually, he had noticed it earlier, but he hadn't given it a second thought, had just seen it out of the corner of his eye, so this time he took a closer look. Everyone put their cards in the middle and Jamal collected them, put them together to a stack and then started to shuffle. After shuffling he tapped the edge of the deck against the table and that's where it got fishy. Harry tapped the rim of his glasses, seemingly to push them back up his nose, but really it gave Merlin a signal whose voice came back to life in his ears. " _You think you're onto something, Galahad?_ ", the magician asked as he watched Jamal's hands with Harry. Jamal obviously saw the card on the bottom of the deck, with the faces towards him while tapping the edges and now he started to hand out the cards for the next round. _"Ohh, cheeky_ ", Merlin chuckled after a moment, " _the good old bottom deal. The Dealer is definitely in with the target, Galahad, keep an eye on him. He's checking the card at the bottom of the deck and if it's good he gives it to Mr. Unwin here_." After everyone got their two cards, Jamal proceeded to lay down the first three in the middle and Harry could swear his gesture while doing so was a bit too big to be natural. Right after putting the deck down Jamal's left hand, the one on which side Eggsy was sitting, went up to his neck and with two fingers he scratched a point right under his ear. " _Could be a sign, but could also just be an actual itch. Let's see. The target definitely saw the gesture_ ", Merlin mused through the comm. And he was right, Eggsy had watched Jamal out of the corner of his eyes and then sat back in his chair. And his next starting bet was unusually low.  
Harry eyed Eggsy, then he teased, "Getting cold feet, _Eggsy_?"  
One of Eggsy's eyebrows wandered higher and he looked over to where Harry was sitting. He had mostly lost interest in him after the first few rounds of the game, probably because Harry had held back so he could get into the game and not attract any attention right from the beginning. But now, Eggsy's interest came back. 

"Why, are ya worried, _Harry_?" He asked with a cheeky grin and Harry actually snorted a bit at that.

"Should I be?" He smiled at Eggsy, whose grin got even wider.

"Nah. Just gettin' cautious 'cuz it's gettin' less people, y'know."

Harry knew that was a lie. Eggsy didn't seem like the type to be cautious and when Jamal turned the first three cards around it was even more obvious. To say they were shit was an understatement. Alright, scratching under his ear was a warning not to bet too high then.  
There were a lot of signs, but Harry could make out most of them. Merlin was helpful with that, figuring out some of the signs and writing all of them down so he could tell Harry what would happen next. It wasn't long until all other participants were out and it was only Harry and Eggsy left. Eggsy grinned at him, a wide, bright grin as if he was actually excited about Harry still being in the game. And Christ, if that grin didn't make him look even more gorgeous. 

" _Okay, Galahad. This should be easy. We figured out nearly all the signs the Dealer is giving him; now you only need to cheat better than the target_." It sounded a bit like a challenge from Merlin and Harry couldn't suppress the grin spreading on his lips, he loved challenges. 

"Eager, ain't we?" Eggsy teased, but Harry didn't even reward that with an actual answer, he just looked at the cards he got, put in his bet and then folded his hands in his lap.  
He beat Eggsy big-time. And the boy seemed to be stunned. Absolutely, honestly stunned. It wasn't like there was much to win yet, they were still at the beginning of the game between the two of them, but it felt like a much bigger win when he saw the utter disbelief in Eggsy's face. The boy looked up at him and suddenly his face changed, from utter disbelief to a delighted grin. "Oh, this is gonna be fun", Eggsy laughed.  
Harry kept winning; five rounds into the game and he hadn't lost once to Eggsy, who seemed way too stoked about this. At the end of round six they turned their cards and when Harry won again, Eggsy licked his lips, looked up at him and for a moment, Harry thought the boy would just jump right over the table. He took in a deep breath at the look Eggsy was giving him; it was a wild and hungry look, his pupils blown wide, and Harry honestly couldn't blame the politician for this sex scandal anymore.  
" _Galahad. Concentrate_ ", it was Merlin's warning voice that brought him back into reality and he managed to rip his gaze from Eggsy's and back onto his new pair of cards. He hadn't seen any signs from Jamal but neither could Eggsy, because he had been just as occupied with staring at Harry as Harry had been with staring at the boy.

"All in", Eggsy said a few minutes later and pushed all his remaining chips in the middle of the table. There wasn't much left anyway, but this would end the game, Harry was sure. And then he only needed to make sure the politician's story would stay safe. It would probably be enough to just intimidate the boy a bit, get him scared enough to shit his pants and never loose a single word about the incident.  
"Straight Flush", Harry flipped over his cards and a satisfied grin reached his face. He had won, like he predicted. Eggsy turned his cards, two pairs, not even close to beating Harry.  
"So. That had been quite a bit of fun", Harry said and stood - and with him, Eggsy stood too, leaning a bit over the table. "Yeah. It had, hadn't it? Don't forget yer money, guv", he smirked and his eyes went down on the table for a second where the money Harry had just won lay, then he looked back at him.  
"Ah, yes, of course." Harry calmly collected the money and put it into his wallet. Only when he looked back up he noticed that Eggsy had walked around the table and was now standing right in front of him, staring at him intently, still with his pupils blown wide and a challenging grin on his face.  
"So? Fancy a drink?" He proposed and that made Harry's eyebrows shoot up.  
"Pardon?"

"You heard me, guv, let's get a drink. You pay, considerin' you just won a fuckton of money." Eggsy grinned at him and licked those tempting lips again. 

"Hm. I guess there is nothing that speaks against a drink", Harry smiled and nodded over to the hotel bar. The boy had just given Harry an opportunity to get this mission over with, he wouldn't pass up on that. Of course it was only for the mission. Even Merlin's unimpressed snort didn't change that.  
They went over to the bar and Eggsy let himself sink into one of the chairs, while Harry preferred to stand. For the sake of causality he leaned against the bar and waved the barkeeper over who greeted both with a smile. "What can I get you, gentlemen? Today we have an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa, bottled in 2012 and very rich in its taste of-"

"We'll take one", Eggsy didn't even let the barkeeper finish who looked a bit taken aback, and Harry just raised an amused eyebrow. "One glass or one bottle, sir?" He asked and Eggsy didn't have to think long before answering: "One bottle." The barkeeper looked over to Harry for a second, as if waiting for confirmation, then after a small nod from him he went to get the order.  
"Do you even know what you just ordered?" Harry asked and nearly regretted the question a moment later. At least he would, if only Eggsy's offended face wasn't so adorable. " _'course_ , I know that. I ain't stupid", he answered, "It's a red wine. Good one."

If he was honest, Harry was actually a bit surprised Eggsy knew this. "It is, I am very sorry if I offended you, that wasn't my intention", he apologised with a warm smile on his face. Eggsy relaxed again after that, a small smile on his lips and then the barkeeper came back with two glasses and one bottle of wine. "Here you are, Sirs", he said politely and poured both of them one glass, then he put the bottle down in front of them. "Please enjoy."  
Harry took the glass and clinked it with Eggsy's. The first sip tasted like cherries and vanilla and then spicy in the finish, it was a great choice and really hit Harry's taste. "Hmh, it's fantastic."  
" _Yes and it costs £150 a bottle_ ", Merlin gave him the answer to a question he never asked and if Harry could, he would tell his old friend to shut up. But he couldn't. So he just kept on smiling at Eggsy, who seemed to enjoy the wine just as much. "So", Eggsy started and put his glass down, "Where did ya learn to play like that, guv?"

Harry shrugged and let the wine in his glass twirl a bit, "I guess it is just a bit of talent and a bit of experience from playing with friends and colleagues." Of course they had learned to properly play Poker during Kingsman training, one never knew what underground gambling mafias one had to smash during their life as a Kingsman agent. 

Eggsy didn't seem totally convinced, but he didn't say anything about it; instead he rested his chin on his palm and grinned up at Harry. "By the way, that shirt's lookin' really becomin' on ya", he told Harry, who looked a bit surprised and raised his wine glass again. "Why, thank you."

Eggsy sat up straight, took his own glass in his hand and added: "I mean, if I was on ya I'd be comin' too." It made Harry nearly choke on his wine and he started laughing after a few coughs.

"Did you really just say that? That must be the worst pick-up line I have ever heard in my life."

"Maybe, but it made ya laugh", Eggsy grinned, but he was right.  
Eggsy's flirting was really blunt. There was no chance of interpreting his words the wrong way and Harry loved the attention the young, handsome boy was giving him, it was a very welcome flattery to an old and admittedly very vain man like him. He ignored Merlin's protests of " _Remember the mission, Galahad_." or " _Harry, for fuck's sake, this is illegally won money stop spending it on the boy, you randy old man!_ " and bought one drink after the other for Eggsy. When Merlin's constant nagging got too much, he just took his glasses off and put them in the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

He was sure Merlin was going up the wall now and he would probably get into a lot of trouble with Arthur, but right now he couldn't care less. It was their own fault for sending Harry Hart on a boring mission like this, now he finally found something that entertained him and he wouldn't let them bust it for him.  
They drank quite a lot and since the second glass of wine, Harry had returned the flirting. Slowly they had gotten closer, physically and mentally, all lingering touches and low voices and staring at lips.  
"You know..." Eggsy said at some point and licked his lips, "I've got a room here. In the hotel. It's a pretty room. You'd like a show-round?"

Harry huffed. He knew he shouldn't. He really did. But he had at least two bottles of wine and three scotch, the boy wouldn't stop to flatter him, and he just really, _really_ wanted to. 

So he said yes.  
They ended up snogging in the elevator; Harry pushed Eggsy up against the wall, pressing his back to the wall with the whole of his own body, crushing his lips to the boy's. The kiss was all teeth and bumping noses and they didn't have enough time to adjust, because Eggsy's room was on the 3rd floor and after what felt like only a few moments the elevator beeped and the doors opened. They rushed to the room door and Eggsy fumbled with the key card, probably a bit distracted by Harry's hands already pulling the dress shirt out of his neatly pressed trousers and teasing the skin just above his waistband. He was so distracted, the card nearly fell to the ground but he caught it mid-air and finally opened the door. They barely made it inside and closed the door when Harry pressed Eggsy against the wall again, right next to the door, and kissed him. Eggsy instantly wrapped his arms around Harry's neck and, with the wall in his back supporting him, also wrapped his legs around his waist. This time the kiss was just as heated but better coordinated; Harry sucked Eggsy's bottom lip between his teeth and sucked on it, making Eggsy whimper quietly and roll his hips against Harry's stomach.

God, this boy would steal his last bit of sense, Harry knew it. He gripped Eggsy's thigh with one hand and pressed his other one against his lower back, then he lifted him off the wall. The surprised noise Eggsy made due to Harry just lifting him as if it was nothing only made Harry grin while he carried Eggsy over to where the bed was.  
They fell in the sheets, Harry on top of Eggsy, and Eggsy still clinging to Harry's body with his arms and legs for dear life.  
***  
When Harry woke up the next morning the bed was empty. Figures.  
He listened for a moment if maybe he heard the shower running or the flush of the toilet, even though he didn't really believe it possible and he was right, Eggsy was gone.

With a groan Harry ran a hand through his hair and sat up, stretched his tired muscles and maybe regretted the alcohol from last night a bit. Only a tiny bit. But one Paracetamol would resolve that regret, so he got up and went to the bathroom to see if he had any luck and they had anything in there.

They didn't. Well, that meant he had to face Merlin and Arthur with a headache, bugger. Instead of dwelling on his absolutely undeserved bad luck he went back to the bed room and started to dress himself and only when he turned to face the bedside table he paused in confusion. Where was his-... Oh, for fuck's sake.

He searched his jacket, his trousers and under the bed, but his watch and, way worse, his signet ring were nowhere to be found. He checked his wallet and - of course - all the money, including the win from last night and Harrison Eldridge's credit card were missing too. "I guess that serves me right", he sighed to himself.

He couldn't even find it in himself to be mad, it did serve him right. He should've seen it coming when he slept with a gambler and cheater. Also, he _did_ have a fantastic night. Several times last night. So, really, if he should be angry at anyone it should be at himself.

He put on his glasses and straightened his cuffs on his way to the door. Just as he wanted to leave the room and call Merlin he stopped dead in his tracks.

There was a hand-written note on the door.  
" _Good shag, didn't think u'd still have it in u, considering u r like 92 y/o. Jk, was an awesome night, sorry for stealing yo shit tho, but y'know. U had it comin didn't u? Hope we can repeat last night if we ever meet again and u ain't gonna put me over ur knee (but u CAN spank me if you do it like yesterday ;))) )_  
\- xoxo Eggsy ♥♥"  
  
Harry snorted as he ripped the post-it note off the wooden door and shook his head. This boy... Unbelievable. He folded the note and reached inside his jacket to put it into the pocket there, before he opened the door and called Merlin through his glasses' comm.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Eggsy meet again, under slightly different circumstances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo after popular demand I decided to continue this story! Which got...kinda...out of hand...and this will have 4 chapters now lmao
> 
> Hope you enjoy the update!

It was still early when Harry wandered through the rather empty streets of London. Most people were still asleep or just waking up on this Saturday morning, which made the walk to the bakery at least a bit more pleasant; but Harry still sighed frustrated and wrapped his coat a bit firmer around himself.

Usually he would be on his way to the shop or be already there by now, but after his last mission Arthur had suspended him for a week.

Well, he had said he would give Harry a week off so he could take some rest he obviously needed, judging by his behaviour. But that was the same after all. Not to mention how absolutely enraged he had been when Harry had come back without his Kingsman watch and signet ring. The worst thing about it was that he was rightfully angry, those were spy gadgets that shouldn't fall into the wrong hands.

Another, longer sigh left his throat as he opened the door to the bakery and the small bell hanging from the ceiling announced his entrance. The shop was empty except for the lady behind the counter and one customer with his little daughter who was just about to pay.

Harry stood next to the young man and scanned the available products until the woman asked him, with a smile on her lips: "Good morning Sir, how may I help you?"

Harry looked up and smiled at her.  
"I will take two croissants please." As soon as he had finished his sentence he noticed how the customer standing next to him turned his head to look at him and then took a sharp inhale.

Confused, Harry looked over too, and as soon as his eyes settled on the young man his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Standing next to him, with a slight look of terror on his face, was no one less than Eggsy Unwin.  
But instead of a neatly pressed dress shirt and pants he was wearing a cap, sweatpants, very _unique_ , winged Sneakers and a rather tremendously looking yellow and black jacket. No wonder he hadn't recognized him from behind.

After a second of just disbelievingly staring at each other Eggsy was the first to react: he grabbed the bag on the counter and made a move to leave, but Harry was fast enough to grab his wrist. Eggsy made a small, distraught noise but didn't try to get out of Harry's grip.

"Eggsy.", he said calmly and said boy smiled at him. Harry couldn't tell if it was an apologising or distressed smile, but considering the last time they had parted ways both would have been appropriate.

"Harry", Eggsy answered and now unsuccessfully tried to get his wrist out of Harry's grip.

"What a surprise to meet you here", Harry's voice was calm, as was his whole appearance. If he could get his watch and his ring back from Eggsy, Arthur would maybe let him come back to work earlier and that thought alone made his day a lot better than it had been when he left his house.

"Yeah, great to see ya again, now if ya wouldn't mind...", again Eggsy tried to squirm his way out of Harry's grip but now that he had this opportunity, Harry wouldn't just let him leave.  
A gentle tug on his coat and a tiny voice made him look down in confusion though.

"'scuse me, Mister?", a little girl with blond, curly hair held onto the hem of his coat and looked up at him, while her other hand held Eggsy's free one, "There's me chocolate muffin in that bag, can I have that? Ya can hold Eggsy's hand later, 'kay?"

The girl grinned a front-teeth-missing grin up at him and it took Harry a few seconds to react. He threw a glance at Eggsy, then at his hand still holding the boy's wrist and then back at the girl, before he released Eggsy's hand.

"Of course. Excuse me.", Harry answered and smiled down at her, "How very rude of me."

As soon as Eggsy had his second hand back the little girl made grabby hands towards the bag and Eggsy bent over to give her the chocolate muffin.

"Thank you Eggsy!", she said politely and then took a big bite.

Harry observed the whole situation from where he stood; how Eggsy unwrapped the muffin for the girl and gently petted her head after she thanked him, and Harry's heart skipped a beat at the happy smile she gave him in return.  
Harry shook his head and cleared his throat when his mind went back to his initial concerns.

"I think I remember there being a playground just around the corner, how about we take a walk there? I'm sure it would be a lot of fun for little Miss...?"

"Daisy!", the little girl spat out a few muffin crumbs while answering with a full mouth but Harry only smiled about it. She definitely was a very adorable little girl.

"Oh, please Eggsy, can we?", she begged and looked up at Eggsy, practically bouncing with energy.

"Eh...Yeah. Sure.", Eggsy didn't seem half as keen about their plans as Daisy did, but other than her he didn't have a fun time of playing on the playground waiting for him.  
Harry faced the lady behind the counter again and asked: "Could you please add two coffees to my order? That would be lovely."

***

About ten minutes later Harry let himself sink down on a park bench next to a sand pit, crossed his legs and took a sip of his coffee while he watched Eggsy taking Daisy's jacket off and carefully putting her hair into a ponytail before he sent her off to play and joined Harry on the bench - far on the other side and nervously moving his coffee cup around in his hands.

"So, you have a daughter?", Harry asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Sister.", was Eggsy's answer and Harry hummed acknowledging.

"Listen, bruv, if yer gonna call the cops on me jus--", but before Eggsy could finish his sentence Harry raised his hand and shook his head.

"I'm not going to 'call the cops on you'.", he said and took another sip of his coffee, "I'm not even mad about what happened. You were right, I had it coming."

Eggsy looked at Harry in disbelieve.  
"Wait. Are ya serious?" When Harry nodded, Eggsy seemed to regain some of his confidence - and some of his cockiness.  
"So, what are we doin' here then?", he asked and shuffled a bit closer to Harry, a sly grin on his lips, "Did ya maybe want to ask me if I let ya bend me over again? 'Cuz I think I would."

The pointed look Harry gave him for that made Eggsy shut up - thank God, because Harry wasn't sure what he would do if Eggsy kept on talking - but Eggsy still grinned and bit his bottom lip. Harry couldn't stop himself from looking at those lips for a moment and Eggsy's grin seemed to widen at that.

"No.", Harry said with determination in his voice and Eggsy actually looked a bit disappointed, "I am here because I need some of my things back."

"I thought you said you ain't mad", Eggsy frowned.

"I'm not mad. I just need them back. My watch and my ring."

"Well, I'm sure you'd like them back, but-"

"Eggsy, I wouldn't like to have them back. I need them back.", Harry's face was serious when he looked at Eggsy, "You can keep the money and the credit card is blocked anyway. But those two things are very important to me and I must insist on getting them back."

It was silent for a few seconds and they just looked at each other. Eggsy seemed to understand how important it was to Harry, but instead of making this whole mess a bit easier for Harry, of course that would be too much to ask, he sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry bruv, but I can't give 'em back to you."

"Why?", Harry asked in an exasperated tone and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache building right behind his eyes.

"'cuz I don't have 'em anymore.", Eggsy shrugged, "They looked valuable so I wanted to get rid of 'em as fast as possible. 'cuz if the cops would see a guy like me wif things like those? They'd put me right to jail wifout askin' any questions."

"So, what did you do with them? Did you sell them at a pawn shop? If so, just tell me which one, I will buy them back. I will not involve the police, I promise.", Harry was actually willing to buy his own belongings back, if it meant he had them back in his own two hands.

"Nah, sorry bruv. Sold 'em to sum shady guy on the streets. Don't know his name. They're probably already on the black market or sumfin.", Eggsy shrugged again and rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic smile on his lips.

A deep sigh left Harry, but before he could say anything more a high pitched scream startled the both of them.

"Shit, Daisy!", it took Eggsy two seconds to jump off the bench and run over to where the little girl was sitting on the floor, crying and holding her bleeding knee. Eggsy knelt down next to her and pulled her up in his lap, so he could inspect her knee and hold her in a comforting embrace at the same time.

"Shh, 's all good, little princess", he assured her, "It ain't that bad, 'kay? What happened anyway?"

"I- I fell off th-the ro-o-ock", she sobbed and pointed at a big but easily climbable rock right next to them. It was probably meant as decoration, but whoever thought kids on a playground wouldn't climb on it was a stupid idiot.

"M-Make it st-st-stop bleeding", Daisy demanded, "M-Mummy wi-will be mad when- when- when it gets o-on me dress"

"Oh, no no, don't worry, Mum ain't gonna be mad", Eggsy tried to calm her down, but instead Daisy started to cry even louder, as if he just stabbed his thumb right in the bleeding wound.

"Make it **stoooop**!!"

Eggsy frantically started to search his coat's and pants' pockets for something to make her knee stop bleeding and her stop crying but he had absolutely nothing on him.

"May I?", Harry crouched next to them, a perfectly white handkerchief in his right hand and his left outstretched for Daisy's leg, while he smiled warmly at the two of them.

For a second both siblings were so taken by surprise that Daisy even forgot to cry, but Eggsy snapped back into reality a second later and started to shake his head. "No, thanks, it's really not-"  
But right in that moment Daisy decided to put her leg in Harry's hand, sniffled and said with a quiet and shaky voice: "It hurts."

Harry nodded and the smile on his face made the skin around his eyes crinkle a bit.

"I know, little Miss Daisy, it looks very painful.", his voice was like honey and sunshine, and it made Eggsy shiver and stare at him while Harry carefully dabbed the handkerchief on Daisy's knee, "But you are rather brave, like a true knight, if I might say so."

Daisy frowned and looked at Harry in confusion.

"But knights are boys. I'm no boy."

"Of course you aren't a boy.", Harry agreed, "But I have to object, knights can be girls too. In fact, I know a very brave knight who is a girl."

Daisy's eyes widened.  
"Really?", she nearly whispered full of astonishment and Harry nodded. "Is she pretty too?"

"Very much so, a very beautiful, brave and strong young woman.", Harry gently wrapped the handkerchief around her knee twice and made a knot so it would stay in place, "And I am sure that's what you will become too, just look how well you took the reckless attack of this horrible rock monster."

Suddenly Daisy jumped off Eggsy's lap and put her hands on her hips.  
"That's right!", she agreed with a wide grin on her lips, "I'm a knight princess and I have to defeat the evil rock monster!"  
With that Daisy ran off to the sandpit again and started to fight every tiny rock she could find with her invisible sword.

Harry followed her with his eyes for a second and smiled fondly at her childish energy, then he looked at Eggsy who openly gaped at him now.  
"That-.... You-..... I mean-.....", Eggsy's mouth hung open for a second, before he got a "Thank you" out.

"You're welcome.", Harry stood and brushed a bit of sand off the knees of his cotton trousers, then he held his hand out for Eggsy who was still kneeling on the ground and staring up at him. Eggsy seemed to snap back out of his thoughts, then he took Harry's hand and stood up. He brushed the sand off his jeans and looked up at Harry when he started to talk again.

"I think I should go now. It was a pleasure to meet you again, Eggsy, and your little sister of course.", he held his hand out and Eggsy stared at it before he took it again, and shook it.

"Yeah... Pleasure." Eggsy pressed his lip together in a thin line.  
Jesus. A pleasure to meet him? If Eggsy could fall to his knees and suck the soul out of Harry's body through his dick now, that would be a fucking pleasure. How could that man be so fit, especially at his age, and have such a rough edge to him but somehow be so bloody gentle at the same time? He was a complete mystery to Eggsy.

However he did it, it made him endlessly attractive and Eggsy felt like his knees might decide to take a short break if he just so much as thought about the way Harry had talked to Daisy.

When Harry moved to take his hand back and leave, Eggsy suddenly grabbed it tighter and blurted out: "See ya 'round?"  
Fuck. Did he really just say that? How desperate was he?

But Harry was decent enough to just smile at him.  
"I'm sure.", Harry replied and left the playground when Eggsy finally let go of his hand.

"Fuuuck...", Eggsy groaned quietly when Harry was gone and pressed the balls of his hands against his eyes. That had been embarrassing and Eggsy really wanted to go home now, but instead he went back to the bench, picked up the lukewarm coffee he had left there and started to drink it with a deep sigh.

***

"We're home", Eggsy announced once he opened the door to the small flat where he lived with Daisy, his Mum and her boyfriend Dean.  
"Hello you two", Michelle greeted them with a warm smile on her lips. But the smile didn't reach her tired looking eyes, it hardly ever did these days.

"Oh, Daisy, Luv, what happened to your knee?", she asked with a concerned voice when she saw the bloody handkerchief that was still tied around her daughter's knee.

"I fell off a rock, but Mr. Harry made it all better! He said I will be a brave knight one day!", Daisy told her Mum, who in return looked at Eggsy warily.

"Oh, eh, he's a friend of mine.", Eggsy lied, "We met him at the bakery and then he went to the playground wif us 'n we had a chat."

Eggsy didn't like lying to his mother. Actually he detested it. But he had to do it a lot, about where he went so often at night, how he earned his money, about people he met. He couldn't tell her he was gambling. She would be disappointed and scared for his safety and he wanted to avoid that, but they needed the money he made with his job.

"Aight, I'm in my room now", Eggsy gave Michelle a kiss to the cheek and went past her without waiting for an answer. As soon as the door clicked shut behind him he let out a long sigh, then went straight for his wardrobe. He opened the door and knelt down in front of it, pulled a drawer out and rummaged through it.

"There you are...", he whispered as he pulled a simple wooden box from the drawer. It was secured with a small padlock and Eggsy gave it a short tug to make sure that no one had opened it, then he pulled his keys out of his jeans' pocket and flipped through them until he found the right one.

The padlock gave a small clicking sound when he turned the key in it and it snapped open. Eggsy put it on the floor next to him and opened the box.  
"I'm sorry, bruv...", he said to the empty room as he reached inside, "But this might pay our way outta this hell 'n away from that asshole Dean."

With that thought, Eggsy carefully closed his hand around the expensive looking watch and ring in his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy talks to his friends about Harry, Harry uses his friend to get to know Eggsy better and then they end up having dinner. Of sorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo here's the third chapter, one more to go! I'll try to upload the last chapter in a week, but I'm not home for the weekend and rl is really taking up a lot of time atm (starting to write my bachelor's thesis...yay.) so it might be a little late. But I promise you'll get it as fast as possible, my lovelies! <3

Eggsy took the last sip of his beer and instantly ordered a new one from the waitress walking past him.

It was three days after he met this Harry-guy again and there had hardly been anything else he thought about. Really, it was annoying. Why had he been so friendly? After all, Eggsy had stolen a lot of valuable things and money, but still, he had been all charming and calm and even paid for his coffee. What an odd man.

Eggsy sighed deeply and earned two very wary looks from across the table.

"Bruv, what's wrong wif ya? Ya've been sighin' like a depressed housewife fo' an hour now," Jamal said and frowned at Eggsy.

"Yeah. Ya're really not yerself today," Ryan agreed.

Eggsy pouted for a second and took a sip from his new beer. They were right though, he really wasn't himself, Eggsy knew that.

"Sorry, sorry," Eggsy apologised and raised his hands in a defensive gesture when his two friends just looked even more sceptical.

"Did ya even listen to what we was sayin'?", Jamal asked and sighed when Eggsy just shrugged, "We was talkin' 'bout the next event where we could relieve sum rich people of sum of their cash. Ryan found out 'bout a posh party that's gon' be hosted in two weeks, jus' outside of London."

"Sounds good," Eggsy agreed. Him, Jamal and Ryan worked together on this whole Poker thing for a few years now. Eggsy and Jamal took the active part, going on posh events where Eggsy would play Poker while Jamal would deal the cards and make sure that Eggsy would win. Ryan did the whole background work, finding events and making sure they would be hired , supposedly for the guests' pleasure, and after all was done the three of them would split the money evenly.

It had worked out fine for them, no one had ever suspected a thing yet.  
They had tried illegal gambling for a while at the beginning of their 'career', but they hadn't been too comfortable around the people one met on those kinds of events; so they had switched to legal events and cheating at those.

"Eggsy, honestly, what's goin' on?" Jamal was visibly frustrated when he had to get Eggsy back into reality _again_.  
Eggsy hadn't even noticed he was miles away with his thoughts and seemed startled when he looked over to his friends.

"I'm sorry," he dragged the 'sorry' longer, like a whiney child that knew it did something wrong but didn't want to apologise.  
"It's just....It's a lot happenin' lately. Mum couldn't pay rent again 'cuz Dean took all her money 'n spent it on booze 'n drugs, _again_. Luckily this time I could help her out 'n pay it. Landlord said if we gon' be another month late wif rent he's gon' kick us out. Also..."

"Also what?" Jamal asked, a sympathetic look on his face.

"....ya remember that older bloke from last time?"

Jamal and Ryan looked at each other but Ryan just shrugged, he never was with them when Eggsy and Jamal were working so he couldn't know who Eggsy was talking about. Jamal seemed confused for a few moments too, before he remembered. But it only made him even more wary.

"Yeah. Ya jus' left the table wif him 'n never came back. What 'bout him?"

Eggsy ducked his head guiltily while his fingers nervously turned his glass back and forth.

"So...er...I've met him again three days ago an-"

"Ya did _**what**_?!", Jamal blurted out before Eggsy could even finish his sentence, "Are ya _mental_ , cuz?? Ya can't just walk 'round 'n casually meet up wif people we pulled over the barrel!"

"Shhh! Jesus, Jamal, calm down!" Luckily no one seemed to care about Jamal's little outburst, but again, Eggsy didn't get to talk any further.

"No, Eggsy, honestly, what were ya thinkin'?!"

"Calm. Down. I didn' meet up wif him, I accidentally met him when I was at the bakery wif Daisy," at that Jamal calmed down a little. Only a little though.

"An' what now? How did ya get away? Did he call the police?"

"No. No, don't worry. He didn' do anythin', 'cept buy me a coffee 'n go to the playground wif Dais' 'n me," Eggsy let himself sink against his chair's back and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he watched the confusion start to show on Jamal's and Ryan's faces.

"I kno', it's strange, innit? I don' understand it either. But he was so nice ta Daisy 'n that night at the Gala ...Christ, haven't had that good of a shag in a while."

"Dude, gross!" Jamal and Ryan exclaimed at the same time.

"Sorry. Anyway. I think....I might have a lil crush on him."

Eggsy sighed again. It wouldn't be any help to deny it any longer. After he met Harry again he didn't stop thinking about him and he had secretly hoped to run into him every time he walked into a shop or a bakery or basically anywhere else. It made Eggsy want to tear his hair out. He had met that man two times, both on accident, and didn't know anything about him, except his name. Harrison Eldridge. That name alone sounded like he wouldn't look twice at Eggsy.

But he did.

"Eggsy," Jamal's voice was calm but determined, "Ya gotta forget this guy. If ya meet him again 'n he changes his mind we're all fucked."

"I kno'," Eggsy sighed and took a big gulp of his beer, then put the glass back down with a bit more force than needed, "He's outta my league anyway. 'n I dunno shit 'bout him 'cept his name. It's just a stupid crush, don' worry 'bout it, I'm gon' be over it in no time."

***

"Are you mental, Harry?"

Merlin looked very, very unimpressed. He had stopped his work and looked up from his laptop, over to Harry who had asked him for a favour. A favour he didn't plan to do him.

"It's just a quick search, Merlin, I don't want you to do a deep background research."

"It's still a no, Harry. You'll have to look for another idiot who will get you information about your boy," Merlin scoffed and looked back on his laptop, "I have more important things to do than encouraging your little crush on a gambler who was your mission target and made you fail spectacularly."

Harry rolled his eyes before he frowned at Merlin.

"I don't have a _crush_ , Merlin."

"Oh yes, you do," Merlin looked back up and cocked an eyebrow at Harry.

"I most certainly do not have a crush. So, will you do the search for me now or not?"

Merlin shook his head and still looked as unimpressed as before. It was fascinating how Harry could say he didn't have a crush in one moment and the next he'd ask for Merlin to gather all possible information about a boy Harry had slept with.

Harry Hart was a master of denial. And it annoyed Merlin to no end.

"No, Harry. This is ridiculous and a waste of time and resources. If you value your job you should stay away as far as possible from this boy, because if Arthur finds out he will rip you a new one."

But Harry didn't listen a single second.

"....not even for an old friend like me? Merlin? We've been through so much together. We're friends since university days, isn't that worth anything?" Harry tilted his head a little, put on a small smile and the best puppy eyes he could muster.

Merlin hated Harry. He really, really hated this manipulative, egoistic asshole - who was, sadly, also his oldest friend.

Damn him.

" _Fine_. I hate you, Harry Hart, you know that?", Merlin spat and turned around in his chair to start his other computer which had access to a bigger database.

"I know. You're a good friend," Harry said with the sweetest voice and a satisfied smile on his lips.

It only took a few minutes of Merlin tapping on his computer's keys and hacking one or two databases for a whole bunch of information to flash up on the over-dimensional screen on the wall.

"There we go," Merlin said and leaned back in his chair. Him and Harry both scanned the presented information.

"Gary Unwin, born on September 6th, 1991, which makes him 25 years old, in St. Thomas' Hospital, London. His family consists of him, his mother, his mother's alcoholic and criminal boyfriend and his little half-sister, with whom he lives under the same roof in the north-west of London. Father died in December '97 during a drunk driver accident where he saved his son from getting run over. Doesn't have an official occupation but we know he's a gambler. Here it also says he has been with the Marines but quit," Merlin read the information on his screen aloud and pushed his glasses back up on his nose.  
He wouldn't actually admit it, but it was kind of interesting. Only because Harry had a major crush on this Gary though.

"His mother seems to be deep in debt. She got a £20.000 loan from the bank shortly after her husband died and until today she has paid hardly anything back. Her bank account doesn't look that well either. Also, she's late on three months of rent which adds up to around another £2.300."

"Well, that explains the gambling," Harry said, "It's quick money and it looks like his family could really use that."

Merlin nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. His mother had a few small jobs that probably didn't pay well after her husband's death, but she quit all of them shortly after starting and since the birth of her daughter she hasn't had any jobs at all. The reason for this might be that she was diagnosed with a severe depression and PTSD after Mr Unwin's death. She started therapy and seemed to do well, but shortly after moving in with Mr Baker she quit this too."

Both men went silent for a moment and just stared at the screen, processing the information they had just gathered. With a sigh Merlin closed all files.

"There, that's all I could find out about him. Happy now?"

Harry didn't answer for a few moments, he still seemed to think about everything.  
After a while of silence he looked at Merlin. Suddenly he felt the uncomfortable sting of guilt in his stomach, for invading Eggsy's privacy like that, especially because the boy didn't know anything about Harry. Only his fake identity.

"We shouldn't have looked him up," he informed Merlin.

"Are you _serious_ , Harry? I _told_ you so! Don't try to blame this on me now!" Merlin looked like he was either about to slap Harry across the face or just explode from annoyance. Harry would like to avoid either one.

"But I'm also very worried about his well-being now. I should keep an eye on him."

"What?!" Merlin looked at Harry in complete and utter shock, but Harry only turned around and started to walk out of Merlin's office.

"Harry! Harry, wait! That's _not_ what I meant, you do _not_ need to have an eye on him!...Harry?...Harry!!"

But Harry was already gone.

***

That evening, after another massive fight with Dean, Eggsy had left the flat and went to have his dinner at a nearby McDonald's. Not near enough for him to accidentally run into Dean's goons he hoped. He had no nerve for them tonight.

Dean had shouted at his Mum again, for not doing the shopping properly. But how was she supposed to do so, without any money because Dean took everything from her as soon as she got something?

He had dared to raise his hand and tried to hit Michelle, right in front of Eggsy's eyes; that had been the moment Eggsy snapped. He jumped between them and tried to remember everything he had learned at the Marines. It had helped for a while, he had been able to fend off Dean's first few blows. Only the first few though.

Now he was standing at a McDonald's, staring at the menu board with his left wrist and his right cheek hurting and a black eye starting to show around the eye on the same side.  
But at least his Mum and Daisy hadn't gotten any of it, Dean went off to the Black Prince after letting off steam on Eggsy.

Eggsy rubbed his hurt wrist absentmindedly and didn't really care about what was happening around him until someone behind him cleared their throat and said: "In case you find something you'd like to have, I would love to invite you."

Eggsy jumped and turned around quickly, immediately switching into fight mode, as he was expecting Rotti or someone else of his sort.

"Jesus fuckin' Christ. 'Arry?!" As soon as Eggsy recognised the person standing right in front of him his posture relaxed and he let his hands sink.  
"Nearly hit ya in the face, don' scare me like that, bruv."

Harry's warm smile faltered for a second when he spotted the dark colouring around Eggsy's eye and the reddened skin on his cheek, but it was back too fast for Eggsy to notice anything.

Harry was angry. Angry at Dean Baker for daring to beat Eggsy and angry at himself because he hadn't found out about Eggsy's situation earlier and prevented this from happening.

"What'r'ya doin' here anyway?" It was Eggsy's question that brought Harry back from his thoughts and his smile became a sincere one again. He looked over to the menu board, then back at Eggsy and shrugged.

"Getting dinner, what else would I be doing here?

"Ya? Gettin' dinner at a McDonald's? Ain't ya too posh fo' this?" Eggsy's grin was cheeky as always and it lifted a heavy weight off of Harry's heart to see Eggsy still smile like this; but at the same time it made his heart even heavier, seeing that Eggsy was so used to this that it didn't seem to affect his mood much.

"Believe me, dear boy, there is no one too posh for a Big Mac every now and then," Harry said grinning and winked at Eggsy. The way Eggsy bit his lip after Harry called him 'dear boy' made this lie more than worth it. Not that Harry thought he was too good to eat at McDonald's or anything, he actually liked to eat here once in a while. Especially when he left the office way too late to go to a restaurant and way too tired to cook himself, but still hungry.  
But in all honesty, going to McDonald's for dinner hadn't been his plan for tonight at all; not until he had spotted Eggsy on his way here. Absolutely on accident. He did not go to Eggsy's home to see if everything was alright.

Well, maybe he did. But that was not the subject right now.

"Aight," Eggsy said and his grin grew even wider when he properly looked up at Harry, "I'll allow ya ta invite me."

Harry laughed and cocked an eyebrow.

"Thank you very much for this opportunity, Eggsy. Now, if the gentleman would choose his course for tonight."

They both got their order and Harry paid for both of them. He told the cashier to put both orders on one tray after seeing Eggsy rub his left wrist again and carried their food over to a table where they could sit down.

"Thanks fo' the dinner, guv," Eggsy said right before he put a bunch of fries in his mouth.

"You're welcome," Harry answered in an amused tone.

"So....," Eggsy said, drawing the 'o' long. He looked at the tray, then up at Harry and started to grin again, "Is this a date?"

Harry actually looked taken aback at that and blinked a few times, before he shrugged and a charming smile spread on his lips.

"Maybe," he said. The slight blush spreading over Eggsy's cheeks was a sight to behold and Harry enjoyed it for a few seconds before they looked at each other and burst out laughing at the same time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Harry and Eggsy meet again, Eggsy ruins another one of Harry's missions.  
> And Arthur's got enough of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorryyyy this is so late. But rl happened (as I said, I started my Bachelor's Thesis and then I was in London for a week with little to no time to write) and this turned out longer than expected. So, at least there's that, another 6k of this fic.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and kudos and all the silent readers too, you're all wonderful!  
> This is the last chapter of this fic (really, this time lol) and I hope you enjoy it!

Hector van den Broek was a 42-year-old man from the Netherlands who spent most of his time in the UK, for business reasons. Business reasons meaning selling drugs. He made thousands of pounds off selling cocaine that was cut with a large amount of levamisole.

" _Levamisole is usually used as a medication against nematodes_ ," Merlin told Harry through the glasses' comms, " _But it has lots of side effects, such as vomiting or diarrhoea right up to dyspnoea or lung oedemas. If it's ingested regularly it can even weaken the immune system. Recently a lot of van den Broek's customers started showing stronger symptoms, so we're guessing he started to use even more levamisole._ "

"So I will try to make him sell me some of his cocaine, lure him somewhere quiet and eliminate him," Harry closed the mission file while finishing Merlin's sentence, and the tech wizard agreed with a soft hum.

"A bit harsh, isn't it? We could just deliver him to MI6, you know."

" _Arthur's order, Harry. Try not to question it for once, will you?_ " Merlin sighed. He was probably already afraid Harry would go off to do his own thing again, and Harry rolled his eyes at that. But instead of arguing with his handler he just watched the scenery rush past him through the car's window on his way out of London, to a Gala van den Broek attended.

***

"Relax, bruv. Imma be aight, okay? It'd be suspicious as fuck if we'd be here together."

Eggsy looked around the empty bathroom while he hissed the words into his phone. He had checked every stall before answering his mobile so no one would overhear what had to be his third conversation about the same topic with Jamal.

"Really, Jamal, he'd kno' we fucked him over if he saw us together. I'll get our money from the rich bastard 'n then I'm outta here 'n we're gonna be 1.5 thousand pounds richer. Just calm down 'n let me do the dirty work."

A few months ago the trio had been deprived of £1.500, when Eggsy and Jamal had cheated their way through another Poker game, but instead of giving Eggsy the money he had won not-so-fair the other guy had to be a sore loser, threw a tantrum and stormed off - with his money. Luckily Eggsy always made sure to get the names of the people he played with; that's how Ryan found out he would be here.

Now Eggsy only needed to find him and get their money, and then he'd be out of here in no time and enjoy a nice, cold pint at the Black Prince with his friends.

If only it would be this easy. This Gala was full of people, too many people, really; Eggsy kept bumping into shoulders and had to squeeze past small groups. And trying to find one specific person in here was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

He gave his second emptied flute of champagne to a waitress and walked two steps backwards, when he bumped into the next person.

"I'm so sorry, I should've watched where I was goin'," Eggsy quickly apologised and turned around to throw an apologetic smile towards the man.

"Eggsy?", a surprised expression spread on Harry's face when the boy looked up at him, and Eggsy couldn't suppress the laughter that bubbled up in his chest when he recognised Harry.

"Ya stalkin' me now, guv?" Eggsy cocked an eyebrow at Harry, but his amused grin made it clear he was just joking.

"I could ask you the same," Harry responded.

"Well, I asked first," Eggsy's grin widened and he winked at Harry. He was just about to say something else, when his eyes trailed off and he stopped mid-movement, his hand raised halfway and his mouth slightly ajar.

"Sorry, 'Arry, but I gotta go. I got sum business here," Eggsy blew Harry a kiss, the cheeky bastard, and then just went off. Confused Harry watched him go, and in the same moment he realised where exactly Eggsy was going Merlin's voice in his ears came back to life.

" _Isn't that lovely. Your favourite gambler has 'business' with Hector van den Broek, a renowned coke dealer. Splendid choice of a lover, Harry._ " Merlin's voice was overflowing with sarcasm and Harry made a low, unimpressed grunt in response.

"He is not my _lover_ , Merlin. Stop saying things like that."

" _Whatever you say, Harry. Now, if you would please go and stop whatever foul deals are made there that would be lovely._ "

Harry did so without any further arguing with Merlin and approached the two. Eggsy had already successfully engaged van den Broek in a conversation and the closer Harry came, the less it looked like Eggsy was striking a drug deal. It rather looked like he was blatantly _flirting_. Exactly how he had been flirting with him, or with Harrison Eldridge, just a few weeks ago.

Harry felt a pang of jealousy, which was ridiculous. Him and Eggsy had met only three times, he was half Harry's age and Harry definitely didn't have any sort of emotional attachment to the boy. So why would he be jealous?

Harry came to a halt closely behind Eggsy and cleared his throat to steer van den Broek's attention towards himself.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt your conversation like that, but I have a very important matter to talk to you about, Mr van den Broek, and I would appreciate it very much if you could just spare a minute for me," he said with a charming smile on his lips, but van den Broek didn't look very impressed. He had looked more than pleased by Eggsy's flirting, and Harry obviously wasn't welcome to disturb them.

"And who are you?" van den Broek asked, suspicious and still not really pleased.

Well, shit. That was unfortunate. He wasn't here as Harrison Eldridge, he had another cover, which wouldn't be a problem - if Eggsy wasn't standing right beside him, quite literally shoulder to shoulder.

But he couldn't just switch to Harrison Eldridge either, because that name wasn't on the guest list. So he had to just go with it and hope for the best.

"I'm Gavin Woodward, very nice to meet you, Mr van den Broek," he offered his hand for van den Broek to shake, and he did so. Harry was lucky, at least a bit, since Eggsy just looked at him strangely, but didn't comment on it. Harry thanked him internally for that.

"Anyway, I'm currently in a conversation with this young man. I will come to you as soon as I'm finished here, Mr Woodward," van den Broek said and all but shooed Harry away with a gesture of his hand.

Harry tried to get his attention again, but van den Broek pointedly ignored him, so he had to wait, whether he liked it or not. If he insisted on talking to the man now, it could make it impossible for him to finish his mission.

But when van den Broek and Eggsy still talked after half an hour, Harry reached the end of his patience. He had to find a way to get Eggsy away from him.

He looked around, trying to find something to catch either Eggsy's or van den Broek's attention enough to draw them away from each other, when one of the two people he had been talking to interrupted him.

"What do you say about this, Mr Woodward? Do you enjoy a game of Poker every now and then?"

Harry wasn't religious. But this, this was a gift from God. With a warm smile and a nod he answered: "Yes, indeed, I do. But I know someone who can talk a whole lot more about Poker with you than I can. Do you see the young man over there? His skills at Poker are terrific, you should talk to him."

The two men followed Harry's finger with their eyes and soon they spotted Eggsy, who was just taking a glass of champagne off a waiter's tray.

"Really? That could be very interesting, I think we will talk to him right away."

"Yes, please do, I'm sure he will be thrilled to talk to you," Harry lied and watched the men walk over to Eggsy and van den Broek, where one of them just slung one of his arms around Eggsy's shoulder, said something to van den Broek and more or less dragged a very confused looking Eggsy with him. For a few seconds Harry's and Eggsy's eyes met and Harry could see a look of suspicion cross Eggsy's face, to which he just responded with a self-satisfied smile. Eggsy seemed like he wanted to shout something over at Harry, but before he could the two men had him out on a balcony and out of Harry's eyesight and earshot.

***

Fuck Harry. Eggsy had been _this_ close to get the money from van den Broek, be it by him actually handing it to Eggsy or by pick pocketing him, he nearly had it. And then Harry had obviously sent those two men over to him to engage him in a conversation about Poker.

Eggsy didn't know why Harry would do this, what could possibly be so important that he had to talk to van den Broek right now? Couldn't it wait until Eggsy had his money?

And what was that whole "Gavin Woodward" thing anyway? Why did he give him a wrong name? Or did he give Eggsy a wrong name?? Fuck, whichever it was, Eggsy didn't have the time to think about it now. He needed to get that money and then get out of here as fast as possible. He still had to take a cab back to London, and he wanted to be back home again before early morning. So he made a quick excuse to the men and went back inside, where he soon enough spotted Harry - Gavin? Whatever. - and van den Broek talking.

Okay, he needed a plan to get rid of Harry long enough to take the money from van den Broek, then Harry could talk to him as long as he liked to. But how could he do that? What could possibly keep Harry's attention long enough? He didn't know the man well enough to answer this question, he wasn't even sure anymore if he actually knew his name for Christ's sake, so how was he supposed to manage this?

But when his eyes fell onto a waiter, Eggsy started to grin. Why search for something to catch Harry's attention, if he could just force him to leave?

Eggsy waited until the waiter finished his route through the people and went back to the bar to refill his tray with new glasses of champagne, and then went off to ask everyone if they wanted a glass again. Eggsy waited, and waited... Until the waiter walked past Harry and van den Broek. This was the moment Eggsy fell into action; he hurried towards them, pointedly looking in another direction, and ran straight into the poor waiter who lost his balance. The tray that had been resting on one of his hands slid off, champagne filled glasses went flying right towards Harry, emptied themselves on his suit and then shattered on the floor.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Eggsy gasped and steadied the waiter with a firm grip on his arms, "I didn't watch where I was going, this is my fault, I'm sorry!"

"It's alright, don't worry about it, Sir", the waiter stammered, visibly puzzled by what just happened.

When Eggsy turned to look at Harry, he was met with a more than unimpressed stare. If looks could kill, he would drop dead on the spot. Harry was dripping wet with champagne, some even got into his hair and made it stick to his temples and his glasses had little drops all over them.

"Oh no," Eggsy said, suppressing a laugh, "I'm sorry, Mr...Woodward, was it? You should go to the bathroom quickly and try to dry it off."

Harry gathered himself for a few moments. Eggsy was sure he'd love to wring his neck right now, but instead Harry cleared his throat and put a strand of hair which had fallen into his forehead back in place.

"Yes. I will do that. Excuse me, Mr van den Broek."

When Harry walked past him, Eggsy could hear him whisper: "I'll send you the dry cleaner's bill, you cheeky brat."

Eggsy quickly bit his lower lip to stop himself from laughing and turned it into a charming smile when he approached van den Broek.

"I'm so clumsy sometimes," he said with a dramatic sigh and combed a hand through his thick blond hair.

Van den Broek eagerly let Eggsy involve him in a conversation again and enjoyed the young man flirting with him. Eggsy on the other hand could really go without it, but the idiot had forgotten who Eggsy was, so he just went with flirting instead of confrontation to raise his chances of getting a hold of the money van den Broek owed him - and maybe even a credit card or some jewellery as a compensation for the trouble he went through.

***

Angrily Harry scrubbed at his soaked dress shirt with a paper towel and ignored the laughing in his ears.

" _That was a clever move, I have to give the boy that_ ," Merlin told him, " _He's really giving you a hard time. I like him._ "

"Kindly fuck off, Merlin," Harry grunted and raised his face towards the mirror to give Merlin a good view of his annoyed reflection.

" _I will, as soon as you finished this mission, Galahad,_ " Merlin sounded way too smug when he said this and Harry's reflection looked even more annoyed, before he looked down onto his shirt again. It was absolutely in vain, the shirt was ruined, but he couldn't go back outside with a champagne-soaked shirt either, so he took a new paper towel and kept on scrubbing.

When Harry left the bathroom Eggsy and van den Broek were talking again, but to Harry's great satisfaction Eggsy didn't look as flirtatious as before, but rather frustrated. So he didn't get what he wanted either.

Good.

" _Galahad, it's getting late. You need to eliminate van den Broek **now** or he might leave before you get the chance._ "

"I know," Harry muttered and made his way over to his target, "I will get Eggsy out of the way and then it'll be over quickly."

When he arrived he smiled at van den Broek, but put his hand on Eggsy's shoulder.

"Would you excuse us for a moment, Mr van den Broek? There is something I would like talk to this young man about." Before any of the two could react, Harry grabbed Eggsy's shoulder firmer and dragged him with him, away from van den Broek and outside the building. The front garden was quiet and dark and Harry walked past bushes and trees, where no one could overhear them. When Harry came to a halt, Eggsy shoved him away.

"What the fuck's yer problem, Harry?" Eggsy hissed, "Or Gavin, or whatever the fuck yer name is."

"What _my_ problem is? I was not the one deliberately running into waiters to ruin someone's suit."

"Oh yeah, boo-hoo, cry me a river. I got business to do, and if ya'd just gimme five minutes wifout fuckin' interruptin' I'd be done 'n outta here in no time 'n ya could do whatever ya want."

"Business?" Harry asked and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Just call it by its name: drug deals."

Harry immediately regretted saying this. Eggsy's face went from angry, to confused, to offended, to _very_ angry in a matter of seconds, and he grabbed Harry by his lapels.

"The _fuck_ did ya just say?" He asked, yanking Harry closer to himself, "Ya think just 'cuz I'm not a rich bastard wif a fuckin' silver spoon up my arse I'm a fuckin' drug dealer? That what ya thinkin'?"

Harry looked more than surprised by Eggsy's outburst and bumped into the younger man when he pulled at his lapels. "Well, what kind of business would you have with a drug dealer if not that?" Eggsy faltered and his grip on Harry's suit loosened lightly. "Drug dealer? The fuck ya talkin' 'bout? That guy owes me money from a Poker game, I don't know nuffin' 'bout drugs."

"Well, I have to apologise then, but I have to go back inside now and I want you to stay away from van den Broek until I'm done talking to him. Did you understand me?" Harry put his hands over Eggsy's to loosen them from his lapels, then turned to go back inside and finish his mission, but Eggsy held him back.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up. First of all, that was sum shit apology 'n I'm not lettin' ya get away wif that. 'n second, how the fuck do _ya_ know van den Broek's a drug dealer then? I thought ya was a business man? Ya doin' drugs or what? That why ya gave him a wrong name? 'cuz ya tryin' to get yer hands on sum drugs wifout damagin' yer reputation?"

"Now your imagination is running wild, I am not a drug addict," Harry said with a deep sigh, "Just do what I told you."

"Fuck off, I ain't no child!" Slowly but surely Eggsy was losing his patience with Harry. He was acting like a complete wanker right now, first he accused Eggsy of dealing drugs and now he acted as if he was his boss.

"Listen, Eggsy, I really don't have the time to- _Shit_!" Behind Eggsy Harry could see van den Broek hurriedly leaving the building, before he disappeared behind some bushes.

"Merlin, the target left the building, where is he headed?" Harry started walking, completely ignoring Eggsy who stared at him confused and asked: "Merlin? What the fuck ya goin' on about now? Are ya high?"

" _He's headed towards his car. Be careful, Galahad, he has at least two bodyguards with him,_ " Merlin warned his friend, while he used CCTV cameras around the property to keep an eye on van den Broek.

"Understood," Harry only said and made his way further in van den Broek's direction.

"What the fuck? What's happenin'?" Eggsy demanded to know, but Harry only told him to stay behind. Of course Eggsy didn't care.

"Just tell me who the fuck ya are. I've seen a lot o' business men, but ya sure as hell ain't one," Eggsy remarked with a raised eyebrow and walked right behind Harry, if one could still call it walking, as Harry was half-running by now.

"Eggsy, I said stay behind, this is nothing you should get involved in," Harry warned, but Eggsy only scoffed at him.

"Yeah, no, whatever ya're up to, it can't be worse than what I've already seen," Eggsy said and Harry responded with a half-grunt half-laugh, but didn't stop walking.

They rounded a corner and entered the parking area of the property, where Eggsy and Harry only got a glimpse of van den Broek before his car's door was thrown shut and the man disappeared.

"Fuck!" Eggsy cursed, "Now he's gone, 'n my money wif him. That's all yer fault."

"I'm sorry, but your money is not my biggest concern in this matter, Eggsy," Harry said disinterested and reached behind his back and under his coat. Eggsy didn't know _what_ exactly he had expected Harry to pull out - but it sure wasn't a gun.  
He made a surprised sound in the back of his throat and jumped a step backwards.

"Whoa! Jesus, why do you carry that??"

But instead of answering Harry raised the gun, aimed for the wheels of the car and shot. In the same moment the car started to move and Harry missed, and the only thing he achieved was getting the two bodyguard's attention who were waiting for the car to drive away safely before they would follow in their own.

Harry cursed as the men pulled out their own guns and he threw a quick glance over his shoulder to Eggsy, who was shocked into silence and just stared back at Harry. He extended one hand and shoved the boy behind him, so he would be at least a bit save from the following bullet rain towards them. Harry tried to shoot the car's wheels two more times before it was too far away and he had to fight off the bodyguards. They were slowly approaching Harry and Eggsy and the older man sternly told Eggsy: "Now do as I tell you for once and stay behind, find a place to hide," before he went off towards the bodyguards.

Eggsy looked around frantically and decided to walk back to where they came from, but his curiosity got the better of him and he stopped behind the corner they had rounded and peered around it. He watched in a mixture of awe and shock as Harry beat the two henchmen to a pulp with just his bare hands and the handle of his gun, without fatally injuring either of them, even though both him and the men were armed.

This, Eggsy had to admit, was disturbingly attractive.

He jumped and barely suppressed an embarrassing squeal when someone right behind him cleared their throat and put a hand on his shoulder. When he turned around he was faced with a young woman around his age, neatly dressed in a suit, probably bespoke judging by how well it fit her, her hair in a tight ponytail and a small smile on her lips.

"Eggsy?" she asked and he looked at her warily.

"Yeah. Who're ya?"

She extended her hand and after he hesitated for a few seconds, Eggsy shook it. "I'm Lancelot," she answered, though Eggsy doubted that was her real name.

"Lancelot, what are you doing here?" Eggsy turned towards Harry's voice that was now closely behind him again and looked at the man from tip to toe. He didn't even look exhausted, there were two strands of his otherwise neatly combed hair falling into his forehead, his tie was slightly out of place and his Oxfords weren't as shiny as before - and was that blood on them? - but other than that, he looked perfectly in order.

"Galahad," now the young woman turned towards Harry, "I'm here because Arthur sent me."

Eggsy looked to and fro between them, getting more confused the more they spoke.

"Why would he? I have this under control."

" _Do you? Where is van den Broek then?_ " Merlin scoffed through the glasses' comm and Lancelot, who obviously heard him too, couldn't suppress a small, amused grin, " _He's on the run. Percival is on his way to catch him._ " She nodded in agreement.

"I'm here to pick you up, Galahad. You, and Eggsy," when she said that, both Harry and Eggsy looked at her in surprise.

"Wait. What? I don't even know who ya are or what ya're talkin' 'bout, I ain't goin' nowhere!" Eggsy stuttered and made a step backwards. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you go, it's an order. Please just get in the car, I don't want to force you," Lancelot replied while a black car slowly rolled onto the parking area and towards them. She had said all of that with a gentle smile, but her eyes told Eggsy she would be more than willing to force him to do what she wanted. And something in Eggsy told him she would be successful.

Eggsy looked at Harry, Gavin? Galahad? This was getting more and more confusing, and then at Lancelot and the car, bit his bottom lip and slowly started to walk towards the parked car.

A satisfied smile spread on Lancelot's lips which vanished as soon as Harry started whispering to her. She listened to him, then shrugged and nodded towards the car.

"I don't know what Arthur wants from him, but he seemed angry," she answered, but other than Harry she wasn't whispering. Eggsy tried not to listen, since it didn't help with his nerves, and just sat in the car, shortly followed by Harry and Lancelot.

The whole drive, and it was a long drive, an awkward and tense silence stretched between the occupants of the car. Eggsy stared out of the window and watched the landscape outside slowly change, until there were only big stretches of field and trees. At some point he started to wonder if those people were kidnapping him. Would they try to blackmail someone and get money? Because that wouldn't work. His Mum didn't have anything and Dean would probably just write them a thank you-note for taking Eggsy. Would they sell him? Would they _kill_ him? He had seen that at least Harry was perfectly capable of doing so.  
_I had sex with my murderer._ The thought ran through Eggsy's mind, shortly followed by how this would make a fantastic book title. Great, at least there was a title for his biography if someone decided to write one.

"Calm down," Lancelot said after what felt like an eternity and Eggsy looked over at her. She could probably see he wasn't very convinced not to be nervous.

"We're no bad people," she added and Eggsy scoffed.

"Yeah. That's probably what any murderer says before they lure their victim into an dark alleyway," he said sarcastically, but that only made Lancelot smile even more.

"Well, we already have you in our dark alleyway, metaphorically speaking," she said, so calmly it made her even scarier, and she quickly laughed when she saw how Eggsy's eyes grew wider and his expression turned to something resembling panic.

"It was a joke!", she exclaimed, "A joke. Calm down. We won't hurt you. I was trying to tell you that there is no need to lure you in when you're already in the car with us."

Next to Eggsy Harry gave a small huff of amusement and Eggsy looked at him angrily, then he stared out of the window again and pointedly ignored both of them.

After some more time had passed a big manor appeared in Eggsy's eyesight and he quickly looked over to Harry and Lancelot who weren't paying him any more attention, then back out of the window.

"Where are we?" he asked eventually and this time it was Harry who answered: "Kingsman HQ."

Not that this information helped Eggsy in any way, but neither Harry nor Lancelot were willing to answer any more questions and with a frustrated sigh Eggsy watched the building come closer, until the car came to a halt right in front of it.

The three left the car and entered the building, and Eggsy carefully walked behind Lancelot and Harry. He took in every detail around him and nearly ran into Harry when they stopped in front of a big wooden door.

A man was standing in front of it. He was hugging a clipboard to his chest, was dressed in a woollen jumper, but just as impeccably as the other two, and pushed the glasses on his nose up while he looked at Harry, with a kind of punishing stare. Only now Eggsy noticed all three of them were wearing similar glasses. Not the same, but very similar.

"Galahad, Arthur is awaiting you and Mr Unwin. Lancelot, you are dismissed."

"Yes, Merlin," Lancelot said, nodded and turned around, smiled at Eggsy and then made her way down the hall.

As soon as she was gone Merlin lowered his voice and his look darkened.

"Arthur is extremely angry, Harry, you have allowed yourself too many mistakes."

"I know," Harry replied and rubbed the bridge of his nose between two fingers, "But what does he want from Eggsy?"

"I don't know. You'll have to find out," Merlin said and glanced over Harry's shoulder at Eggsy, then back at Harry, before he turned around and opened the door.

Eggsy was hesitating again, he really didn't want to go through this door; whatever was awaiting him behind it, it wasn't good.

Harry was already inside when he noticed Eggsy still standing outside of the room, so he went back, put a hand on Eggsy's lower back and pushed him forwards. Eggsy tried to struggle but gave in eventually.

The inside of the room was just as posh as the rest of the building Eggsy had seen yet. The walls were lined with book shelves, there were small tables with crystal glasses and jugs with some kind of alcohol in them, and a globe right next to one of two old but comfortable looking armchairs, right in front of a fire place.

One of the armchairs was occupied by an old, mean looking man who glared at Harry and Eggsy when they entered the room. That was probably Arthur then, Eggsy guessed.

Merlin stood behind the empty chair, his face carefully neutral and looked over at Arthur when he gestured towards the chair opposite of him.

"Have a seat, Mr Unwin," he said, his voice calm unlike his clearly angered expression and Eggsy threw an uncertain look towards Harry, who in return just nodded at him. So he went over to the chair, slowly, carefully, and sat down with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He didn't like this Arthur-guy one bit. Eggsy felt a bit better when Harry came to a halt behind his chair too and, hidden from Arthur's eyes, lay his hands on the back of the chair and pressed two fingers gently against Eggsy's neck. Merlin looked at Harry disapprovingly, but didn't comment on it.

Against Eggsy's assumption, Arthur just spared him one more short glance before he started speaking to Harry. The calm in his voice was gone, instead it had a dangerous growl to it.

"I demand an explanation for this outrageous behaviour of yours, Galahad. How could you endanger a mission like that? You should pray Percival can finish what you messed up, or this will have consequences. I'm tired of accepting your inappropriate behaviour," he said and Harry only lowered his gaze and nodded silently, "And all because of some young thug!"

"Oi!" Eggsy's protest was completely ignored, only Harry pressed his fingers a bit harder against his skin and Eggsy pressed his lips to a thin line.

"I apologise, Arthur," Harry said calmly, "I realise my behaviour has been less than acceptable the last few weeks. But Eggsy should be no problem to us; after all we can use an amnesia dart to make him forget what he has seen."

"Amnesia what?!" Eggsy sputtered and turned to look at Harry in horror, but again he was ignored.

"The dart will only erase the last few hours of his memory," Merlin remarked, "I can't guarantee he would forget everything he has seen tonight."

"This is not enough!" Arthur said, "Not only has he seen too much, he also stole highly dangerous equipment from Galahad, and Galahad would find some way to ruin it again, even if we erased all of his memory. The boy's memory is not the problem, it's his existence!"

This sentence made a cold shudder crawl down Eggsy's spine and he slowly looked back at Arthur.

"Wait, what's that supposed ta mean?" He asked. But, oh, how he wished he wouldn't have gotten an answer this time.

Arthur reached inside his suit coat and pulled a gun out, which he aimed right at Eggsy's face. His chair slid back an inch when Eggsy pressed his heels to the floor and his back against the cushions, and all colour left his face. "Whoa! What the fuck, put that down!" He said and threw his hands in the air. Both Harry and Merlin moved a step closer to Arthur and Eggsy when Arthur raised the gun, in aborted attempts to stop the older man.

"Arthur, please, this is not necessary," Harry tried to calm him down, "There is no need to shoot the boy."

"What the _fuck_ is goin' on??" Eggsy asked, panic clear in his voice. Finally someone decided to let Eggsy in on what was going on, and that someone was Merlin.

"You got yourself in quite some trouble, boy. We are part of Kingsman, an international secret service agency, which Arthur is the head of. First you got yourself in enough trouble by sleeping with a well-known government employee to be targeted by us, and then you kept on interfering with Galahad and his missions, so he couldn't successfully finish them."

"So...Wait. So y'all are like...spies?" Eggsy asked disbelievingly.

"Of sorts," Harry agreed.

"And the stuff I stole from ya was sum top secret spy shit?"

"You could say that."

"Shit."

"Quite."

"I swear I won't tell anyone," Eggsy suddenly said, to the surprise of the three other men, with a pleading voice and his eyes on the gun that was still pointing at his face, "I can keep my mouth shut. I ain't gonna say nothin' to no one."

There was a tense silence in the room after Eggsy had talked. Arthur stared at him with a look of surprise, but also mistrust, and Harry and Merlin looked at each other and then both back at Eggsy.

After a few minutes in which no one said anything, Harry suddenly exclaimed: "I will make him my recruit for the position of Bors."

"What?" Eggsy and Arthur asked at the same time, while Merlin just sighed deeply.

"I didn't suggest a recruit yet, after Bors died on his last mission in Kenia a few days ago. Now I do."

"Are you insane, Galahad?" Arthur asked, getting angry again, but at least lowering the gun to Eggsy's great relief, "This is ridiculous."

"Eggsy knows about Kingsman now, he knows his way around criminals and he went through a short but considerable training at the Marines. He's more than qualified," Harry said, before he looked down at Eggsy who was staring up at him, "If you agree, of course."

"Me? Becoming a spy?" Eggsy asked and Harry nodded in response, "I... Well, I've got nothin' to loose, I guess."

"So that is settled," Harry said with a satisfied tone in his voice, "Eggsy will be my recruit for the position of Bors and is therefore no danger to Kingsman."

"You are unbelievable," Arthur growled and got up from his seat, "This is unacceptable. He will not be your candidate."

Merlin sighed again, before he said: "Well, I'm sorry to say so, Sir, but there is nothing you can do if Galahad decides to choose him as his candidate. He _is_ qualified and it is Galahad's choice alone who he will suggest."

Arthur's face turned red from anger and he looked to and fro between Merlin, Harry and Eggsy, before he spat: "Fine. See what it gets you to recruit a thug, Galahad. This is ridiculous and you know that." And with those words he stormed out of the room. All three men watched him go and Eggsy was glad when the tension in the room slowly left with Arthur.

Merlin turned his gaze towards Harry, shook his head softly and said: "I hope you know what you are doing, Harry," before he left the room too.

After a few seconds of silence Eggsy turned on the chair he was still sitting on and looked up at Harry. "Well, I didn't think my day would turn out like this."

A low, amused laugh was Harry's answer as he walked around the chair until he stood in front of Eggsy. "I didn't think it would end with you becoming my protégé either," he admitted, "Now I hope you will do your best to not embarrass me."

Eggsy grinned at him cheekily and winked. "Yeah, 'course. So, if I'm yer protégé and ya're my mentor, does that mean we can't shag?"

Both of Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise at that question, before he started laughing again. He really hadn't expected a question like that. "Indeed, it does, I'm afraid."

"What a shame," Eggsy replied with a smug grin.

"By the way. My real name is Harry Hart. Not Harrison Eldridge or Gavin Woodward; those were fake identities for the sake of the mission."

"Alright then, _Harry Hart_. When this shit's over, ya gonna take me out for a date."

"Will I?"

"Yes, Harry. You will."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always happy to talk to you ppl, so come visit me on [tumblr](http://agent-eggy.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/_bakadoll)!


End file.
